2025 West Virginia Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2025 West Virginia Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.62.
Effective 2025-01-01Source: Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2024
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2024.
| Item | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $2.62 | $2.62 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Employers in West Virginia with six or more non-exempt employees at a single work location who pay service employees that receive tips.
What changed this year, and why
The minimum cash wage for tipped employees in West Virginia is $2.62 per hour for 2025. Employers who take a tip credit must ensure that the employee's cash wage plus reported tips reach at least the full state minimum wage.
Common questions
- What is the minimum cash wage an employer must pay a tipped employee in West Virginia?
- The employer may pay a cash wage of $2.62 per hour to a tipped employee, provided that the employee's cash wage plus reported tips together equal at least the full state minimum wage. If the tips are insufficient to bring the total to that level, the employer must make up the difference.
- Is $2.62 the full minimum wage for tipped employees?
- No. The lower cash wage applies only when the employer takes a tip credit against the state minimum wage, and the employee must still receive tips that bring their total hourly earnings up to the full state minimum wage.
- What if my employer has fewer than six employees at my work location?
- West Virginia's state minimum wage requirements apply at work locations with six or more non-exempt employees. Where that threshold is not met, the federal tipped cash wage may apply instead.
Every amount on this page is a published figure rather than yours. The Tips needed per hour takes the number you enter and works it out against them, showing which published figure it used.
Who counts as a tipped employee
In West Virginia, an employer may pay a tipped employee a lower cash wage, relying on a 70% tip credit against the state minimum wage. The employer can pay as little as $2.62 per hour in cash wages, provided the employee's tips bring their total hourly compensation up to at least $8.75. If the employer does not meet the threshold of having six employees at a single, distinct work location, the federal tip credit rules may apply instead, and the employer should contact the United States Department of Labor for guidance. Employers must make up the difference if tips and cash wages together fall short of the full minimum wage.
West Virginia’s minimum wage standards allow employers a 70% credit against the minimum wage requirement for their service employees that receive tips. That means an employer may pay his or her tipped employees a cash wage of $2.62 per hour, as long as the employee’s hourly cash rate, plus reported tips, equal $8.75 per hour.
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
What a tip credit is, and the cash wage underneath it
In West Virginia, employers are allowed to take a tip credit toward the minimum wage requirement for tipped service employees. The employer may pay a direct cash wage of $2.62 per hour, as long as the employee's hourly cash rate plus reported tips equal at least the state minimum wage. The tip credit is the difference between the cash wage the employer pays directly and the full minimum wage the employee is owed — in other words, the employer counts the worker's tips toward its obligation up to the amount of the credit. If the employee does not receive enough tips in a given pay period to bridge that gap, the employer must increase the cash wage to cover the shortfall. The credit is not automatic: the employer must maintain written tip records completed by the employee. Without those records, the employer cannot claim the credit and must pay the full minimum wage in cash. This structure ensures that West Virginia tipped workers are guaranteed at least the minimum wage regardless of how much they receive in tips.
That means an employer may pay his or her tipped employees a cash wage of $2.62 per hour, as long as the employee’s hourly cash rate, plus reported tips, equal $8.75 per hour.
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
When the tips do not get you to the minimum wage
In West Virginia, the tip credit depends on the employee's tips actually being large enough to bridge the gap between the cash wage paid by the employer and the full minimum wage. If an employee's reported tips, combined with the employer's direct cash wage, do not equal at least the minimum wage in a given pay period, the employer must make up the difference. The employer cannot rely on tips that did not materialize. For example, on a slow night when tips fall short, the employer is still responsible for ensuring the worker's total hourly compensation reaches the state minimum wage — if it does not, the employer must pay additional cash wages to close the gap. In addition, if the employer does not have written tip records completed by the employee, it cannot claim the tip credit at all and must pay the full minimum wage. This protection ensures that West Virginia tipped workers never take home less than the minimum wage simply because business was slow or customers were not generous.
In order to take a credit against the minimum wage for tips, the employer must have written tip records completed by the employee.
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
The notice an employer owes you before it takes the credit
Under federal rules that may apply in West Virginia, employers must give tipped employees advance notice before claiming a tip credit against the minimum wage. The notice must explain the cash wage the employer is paying, the amount of the tip credit being claimed, that the credit cannot exceed the tips actually received, that all tips belong to the employee unless there is a valid tip pool, and that the credit will not apply unless the employee has been told these things. West Virginia workers should receive this information from their employer before the first paycheck on which the tip credit is applied. If your employer has not given you this notice, it cannot legally claim the tip credit and must pay you the full minimum wage in cash. This protection ensures that you understand how your pay is calculated and that you know your rights before a reduced cash wage begins.
Should the employer not meet the condition of having six employees at any one separate, distinct and permanent work location to fall under state minimum wage requirements, the federal tip credit of $2.13 per hour may apply.
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
When state law gives more than the federal rule
When both West Virginia state law and federal law apply to a tipped worker's wages, the employer must follow whichever rule provides the greater protection or the higher wage. The state and federal systems each set their own cash wage and tip-credit amounts, and they may differ. For a worker in West Virginia, the employer cannot simply choose the more convenient rule — it must compare the two and comply with whichever one gives the employee more. For example, if federal law sets a lower cash wage than West Virginia's, the employer must pay the higher state amount. Similarly, if a federal provision limits tip pooling more strictly than state law, the stricter rule applies. This principle ensures that West Virginia workers receive the best wage and tip protection available from either source. The six-employee threshold matters here: if your employer has six or more employees at your work location, West Virginia's minimum wage standards apply; otherwise, federal rules govern, and the employer must apply whichever standard ends up most protective to you.
Should the employer not meet the condition of having six employees at any one separate, distinct and permanent work location to fall under state minimum wage requirements, the federal tip credit of $2.13 per hour may apply.
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
Your employer, your manager and your supervisor may not keep your tips
In West Virginia, state law is explicit: employers may not keep any portion of their employees' tips. All tips received by a tipped employee belong to that employee. An employer cannot withhold, retain, or pocket any part of the gratuities that customers leave for workers. This rule applies regardless of whether the employer claims a tip credit against the minimum wage or pays the full minimum wage directly. The prohibition covers the business itself, its managers and its supervisors — none of them may take a share of the tips earned by service staff. West Virginia's rule is clear and absolute: "Under no circumstances may the employer receive a share of any tips." If your employer, or any supervisor acting on the employer's behalf, keeps any portion of your tips, that is a violation of state law, and you are entitled to recover those amounts. This protection exists independently of any federal rule and applies to every tipped worker covered by the state minimum wage.
Under no circumstances may the employer receive a share of any tips.
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
In West Virginia, tip pooling is allowed, but state law limits participation strictly. Only employees who are themselves eligible to receive tips may be included in a tip pool or tip-sharing arrangement. This means that non-tipped workers — such as cooks, dishwashers, janitors or back-office staff who do not customarily receive tips from customers — cannot be required to share in a tip pool, nor can they be included as recipients of pooled tips. The rule is intended to ensure that pooled tips stay among the service staff who interact directly with customers and whose pay is partly built around gratuities. West Virginia's law is specific: "Only those employees that are eligible to receive tips may be included in a tip pool, or tip sharing situation." In addition, the employer itself may not take any share of pooled tips. If your employer requires you to pool tips with employees who do not customarily receive tips, or if it keeps a portion of the pool, that violates state law and you may be owed the full minimum wage without any tip credit.
Only those employees that are eligible to receive tips may be included in a tip pool, or tip sharing situation.
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
Doing two jobs for one employer
Under federal rules that may apply in West Virginia when an employee works in two distinct roles for the same employer, the tip credit applies only to time spent in the tipped occupation. If you perform both tipped work, like serving customers, and non-tipped work, like maintenance duties, you are considered a tipped employee only for the hours spent in the tipped role. For the non-tipped hours, your employer must pay the full minimum wage in cash, with no tip credit allowed. West Virginia workers who split their time between tipped and non-tipped roles should see this distinction reflected in their pay. If the employer applies the tip credit to hours spent in a non-tipped occupation, or fails to track which hours were which, the employee may be owed the difference between the cash wage paid and the full minimum wage for every non-tipped hour worked. The key is that the tip credit is occupation-specific, not employee-specific.
Should the employer not meet the condition of having six employees at any one separate, distinct and permanent work location to fall under state minimum wage requirements, the federal tip credit of $2.13 per hour may apply.
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
How each figure was verified
Each number below was read from a stored copy of the document named beside it, and checked to occur word for word in the quoted sentence. The digest is of that stored text.
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
- Minimum cash wage
That means an employer may pay his or her tipped employees a cash wage of $2.62 per hour
Other years
Every West Virginia Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state